The ATP Finals are built on a paradox. To qualify, players must survive a season-long test of endurance – and yet, by the time they have done so, they are often running on fumes.
A little experience goes a long way in such circumstances, which does much to explain how Casper Ruud, a semi-finalist at the season-ending showpiece last year, opened his latest campaign with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in Turin.
On form, it was not the outcome many would have anticipated. While Ruud, the Norwegian third seed, arrived in north Italy with just two wins from his past four tournaments, Auger-Aliassime earned his place in the eight-man field with a sequence of three straight indoor titles last month, part of a 16-match winning streak that has lifted him to a career-high ranking of sixth.
With Ruud widely regarded as a clay-court specialist, at least until his barnstorming run to the US Open final two months ago, the big-serving Auger-Aliassime might also have expected to be the chief beneficiary of the fast indoor hard court in use at the Pala Alpitour.
But things do not always pan out as expected at the dog-end of the season, and it was Ruud who proved the more clinical performer, converting the only break point of the contest to seal victory in an hour and 51 minutes. Tiredness, the 23-year-old said, could wait a week or so.
“Here we are, the last tournament of the year, let’s try to give it the last push, give everything you have left in the tank,” said Ruud following his third consecutive straight-sets win over Auger-Aliassime. “It’s been a long year, like everyone knows. Most of us have played close to 70, even 80 matches this year. It’s going to be obvious that some of us are quite tired.
“But you’re trying to think it’s the last push, it’s the last sort of sprint. If you are running a marathon, you are on the last turn, I guess, before the finish line is there. We still have some to give.”
Ruud, who added that facing the Canadian in his opener, before either man had fully adjusted to the surface, “could have been an advantage for me”, said the quick conditions had helped him on serve. Yet he also attributed his positive start partly to the feelgood factor generated by his strong showing last year.
“I was serving 215 kilometres an hour, which is not very regular for me,” he told Amazon Prime’s Annabel Croft.
“So I think we’re getting a little bit of help from the altitude, and then the court plays pretty fast. It’s quite slippery and [the ball] stays low – maybe not the conditions I would wish for if I could choose my playing conditions.
“But I’ve been able to come here [a few] days in advance and prepare, and knowing that I was able to perform well here last year, that’s kept my motivation and confidence high. The last weeks have been a bit of a struggle but, as soon as I got here, I felt great right away and have been practising well.”
Auger-Aliassime played down suggestions that the lingering effects of a cold may have contributed to what was a surprisingly lacklustre display by his recent standards. The defeat had more to do with poor returning and “a few bad mistakes” in the second set, said the 22-year-old, although he acknowledged the unique mental challenges involved in competing at the finals.
“It’s kind of strange,” said Auger-Aliassime. “You have this stress and pressure, like this energy to qualify for this event the whole year, especially at the end of the year, the way I did it. It’s like you go there, but there’s still matches to play and compete. It’s not like, ‘Now I qualified and I can rest.’
“I was thinking that would be a mistake, to come here and act like I’m happy and this is it. I felt good today. No problem, actually. I was thinking, ‘Maybe my first time. I’m not going to feel great.’ [But] from the first balls, I felt good, I felt like normal.”
With Rafael Nadal awaiting on Tuesday night, a rapid return to normal service will be vital for Auger-Aliassime’s hopes of advancing from Green Group. In the night session, Nadal, the top seed, was beaten 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 by Taylor Fritz. The American eighth seed will face Ruud next.